November 07, 2008
Presidents and Sports at White House
By Tim JoycePresident-elect Barack Obama - as has been well documented - developed a routine of playing basketball the day of each primary and caucus during this past year (the lone exception being in New Hampshire and after he suffered a defeat at the hands of Hillary Clinton in the Granite State he vowed never to deviate from custom again) and he continued this habit when he took to the hardwood on Tuesday during his historic and triumphant Election Day.
It is obvious that our next president finds great solace when shooting baskets and perhaps uses that time as a period of mental calisthenics, to reinvigorate his already famously-sharp and probing mind.
The White House has no shortage of recreational options for its overworked and hyper-stressed occupants; jogging track, tennis courts, bowling alley, putting green, outdoor basketball court and swimming pool are all at the disposal of the president. Most likely Obama will take full advantage of the White House basketball court to hone his apparently legitimate skills in his favorite sport - we all know that bowling will not be his game of choice at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue if his gutter-ball effort while campaigning in Pennsylvania earlier this year was an accurate indicator of his skills in that pastime.
And if the precedent established by previous presidents is any indication, the public may even get a glimpse of President Obama's deportment while governing - oftentimes a president's playing style in their sport of choice has mirrored both their personality and manner of governance.
No sport at the White House has been so worthy of discussion, and in fact has played a role in emboldening a rich presidential narrative, as tennis. The White House tennis courts, just over a century old, have provided historians and fans of American politics anecdotal and hard evidence to reinforce their opinions of some of the inhabitants of America's most famous residence.
Without question, Teddy Roosevelt was the most passionate tennis player ever to ascend to the presidency. In fact, Roosevelt had the first White House court built in 1902 - at a time when tennis was a very ancillary sport in the United States - and was an avid and competitive player during his tenure in Washington. Roosevelt was notorious for his aggressive, frank and competitive political instincts and this wasn't abandoned when he took to the lawn.
According to George Sullivan, who wrote "How the White House Really Works", the Rough Rider was also somewhat of a relentless bully on the court as he played whenever time allowed, even during the sweltering Washington summers. In fact diplomats would often have to wait to see TR about matters of state until pressing business - that is of the tennis sort - was completed. This was most evidenced by what came to be known as the Tennis Cabinet. Roosevelt assembled a group of younger government officials and diplomats as his playing partners. Many of these court companions became Roosevelt's closest friends.
And on a not altogether unrelated note, TR was also the first to call the residence the "White House," literally stamping his name on it as he had "White House-Washington" engraved on his stationery. Before his time, it has been referred to mainly as the Executive Mansion.
The American people have selected wildly different personalities to lead our nation. And as much as Teddy Roosevelt was a powerful, forceful and decisive physical presence at the White House, he had his polar opposite seventy years later in Jimmy Carter. The brilliant Georgian's attention to detail and minutiae is the stuff of legend and one need to look no further than how Carter oversaw the tennis courts for evidence of his governing hand.
Journalist and former Carter speechwriter James Fallows wrote a long profile in the Atlantic Monthly toward the end of Carter's tenure and he included a vignette of the president's obsession with the scheduling of who could use the courts and when. Carter, wrote Fallows, "would leave for a weekend at Camp David laden with thick briefing books, would pore over budget tables to check the arithmetic, and, during his first six months in office, would personally review all requests to use the White House tennis court. (Although he flatly denied to Bill Moyers in his November 1978 interview that he had ever stooped to such labors, the in-house tennis enthusiasts, of whom I was perhaps the most shameless, dispatched brief notes through his secretary asking to use the court on Tuesday afternoons while he was at a congressional briefing, or a Saturday morning, while he was away. I always provided spaces where he could check Yes or No; Carter would make his decision and send the note back, initialed J.)"
One's strengths are almost always intrinsically linked to their Achilles heal and Carter's mastery of policy detail would unfortunately devolve into a consuming infatuation with particulars. It's the reason why so many historians view Carter's presidency as ineffective however well-meaning and honorable a person he continues to be. And his attitude about the tennis courts was a blatant, if simplistic, reflection on how he approached his job.
When George H.W. Bush ran for president in 1988 he had to wage battle with that eternal Ivy League, cocktail-hour, rumpled, reclining persona that he displayed so naturally. Newsweek famously ran a cover titled "Fighting the Wimp Factor" and Poppy Bush went out of his way - even as president - to avoid any evidence of living up to that negative and unfair moniker. And tennis was a part of this as well.
Reportedly, for a time, Bush would choose to play his tennis indoors at the Hart Senate Office Building, decidedly not showcasing his love of a country-club sport. But as Bush became more comfortable in office he was frequently seen on the White House court, enjoying himself immensely while playing with Pete Sampras or Chris Evert. Bush in fact was an outstanding athlete in his youth, having captained the Yale baseball team.
There are many other White House tennis anecdotes. Though he didn't play tennis, Calvin Coolidge experienced a family tragedy due to the White House court. Coolidge's two sons, Calvin Jr., 16, and John, 17, both were tennis players. In 1924, the two brothers were playing together when Calvin Jr. developed a blister on his right big toe. The toe became infected, and Calvin Jr. died a week later of blood poisoning.
And the quarrelsome, epithet-using Vice President Spiro Agnew struck his partner with a serve while at the White House courts, leading President Nixon to joke that Agnew ought to negotiate in Cambodia "with a tennis racket."
So what can we possibly prophetize about a basketball-playing Barack Obama and how his on-court demeanor will lend clues to his way of handling important affairs? If his masterfully run campaign is any indication, I foresee Obama being a team player but one who isn't afraid to take the lead when needed. He'll be a leader on the court, backing up his tremendous basketball knowledge with an intuitive feel for his teammates. It may be just the kind of basketball player - er - president we need on the court at this crucial juncture in our splendid country's history.
